Voice of the People

Voice of the People

August 21, 2008

Defending the marketing of menthol cigarettes

Your story "Blacks seen as targets of menthol; Exemption for additive troubles many critics" (Page 1, Aug. 13) mischaracterizes the facts regarding the marketing of menthol cigarettes. It is but one more example of a coordinated effort by paternalistic moralists through the media who neither know the facts or the science about menthol in cigarettes nor care to learn them.

This campaign is seeking to take away a smoker's choice to smoke menthol cigarettes, or to smoke at all. It is a blatant effort to impose a politically correct agenda on the American public with the unfortunate assistance of the media.

The Chicago Tribune article leads the public to believe that tobacco industry marketing practices target African-Americans differently from the targeting by other consumer product manufacturers. The article uses race as the emotional lure to turn the public against those companies that have the audacity to market their products to those who want to use them.

We know that the marketing of cigarettes at all is an anathema to those who want to end smoking, but to characterize the marketing methods of our company as "designed specifically to lure young blacks into a lifetime of tobacco use" is slanderous. Moreover, it is particularly offensive since the reporter never contacted us in an effort to understand our marketing practices.

The truth is that Lorillard markets its Newport brand cigarettes to adult smokers of all ethnicities. The truth is that our marketing is not disproportionately directed to African-Americans. The truth is that we do not target underage smokers. The truth is that there are twice as many Caucasian menthol cigarette smokers as there are African-American menthol cigarette smokers. I challenge those who want to prove otherwise to come forward with evidence to support their charges.

Our consumers have the right and ability to choose to smoke and to select their brand of preference. Suggesting that certain ethnic groups are more impressionable than others is insulting to our consumers and wrongly suggests that some are incapable of making individual choices.

This is in response to "Mistakes to cost hospitals; To boost quality and cut costs, insurer won't pay for medical errors called 'never events'" (Page 1, Aug. 7) and "Insurers could become medical gods and deny what is due their customers" (Voice of the People, Aug. 15). Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois' intent is not to pay hospitals for additional costs related to the treatment of preventable medical errors known as "never events" (errors in patient care that can and should be prevented), and also that Blue Cross members are held harmless financially when these events occur. Period.

Emil Jones announced his retirement. Will his pension be based on his current salary, or based on the raise that he's been pushing ("I need a pay raise! I need a pay raise!")? He also decreed his son should inherit the throne.

I have two words to explain why Jones' son should not be rubber-stamped for the position: Todd Stroger.

-- Gary Katz, Long Grove

Foolish Illinoisans

In Illinois, we've substituted coronations for the old form of tedious Democratic elections we once had here. It's all in the family now, and we keep letting it happen to us -- over and over again.

What fools we Illinois taxpayers are!

-- P.J. Dalton, Northbrook

Former friends

We can now add the name of Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf to the long list of dictators we have supported. Most of them became our "friends" at the expense of their own people. We had to dump them eventually either because of their own people's will or because they had fulfilled our objectives. What an expedient and unprincipled way to run a country's foreign policy!

-- Viswanath Jayaraman, Mundelein

Illinois nepotism

As we learned that state Sen. Emil "I need a pay raise" Jones plans to retire, we also learned that Jones wants his political allies to slate his son to replace him in the Senate.